I am a student at the University of Economics and Business in Vienna, Austria. We are currently working on a project and our task is to find new application fields for an existing heat treatment technology. As part of the project, we are supposed to conduct field research and collect as many potential areas and ideas as possible. We would be very thankful for any kind of contribution!

The main feature of the heat treatment technology is that it enables to change a material’s properties and structure. In principle, the treatment of any kind of material is conceivable and it is also possible to apply the technology to toxic/hazardous materials or if toxic substances are released in the process.

Questions we would like you to ask yourself:Do you experience a high degree of wearout or breaking parts somewhere in your everyday life?Do you work with parts/components with a high degree of wearout which consequently have to be replaced frequently?Would a process that enables a precise forecast/controllability of the outcome (treatment under constant conditions; less rejects) be of use for you?

Do you experience any of those problems or do you know people who experience similar problems which can be solved/addressed by these benefits? Furthermore, can you think of any other areas where these points could be an issue?